Bright Shadows
by IGOTWORMS
Summary: When the guardians further pushed back the darkness, the City finally began to thrive. Many even were thought to believe that there was a second "Golden Age" coming, but those people were wrong. A new force arises and it may be up to a titan to stop it...
1. Prologue

So they killed you, gave you a scar. So what?

Don't feel bad now, you tried your best. Humanity is still not extinct anyway.

I can cure death, and that is exactly what I shall do.

I'm sure you won't remember much when you are alive though, like the rest of them.

Get on your feet. Come on. You got nothing to lose.

What killed you? Well, the darkness itself. Not a very original way to die.

But who cares if it was the darkness that killed you? You are the light.

The darkness has strength in numbers, but we have strength in might.

It is time to wake up, guardian. Get a move on.


	2. Guardian

"Guardian? Guardian. Eyes up guardian."

From that moment on, I was alive.

I cannot tell you what death feels like, but I can tell you that I have felt it apparently. According to the first thing I have seen since then anyway, which is my "Ghost".

"You have been dead for thousands of years, and there will be many things you do not understand. But, there are no time for questions, we have to get you back to the city."

"What?" I asked in great confusion. "Who are you? What are you? Where am I?" I started to take notice in my surroundings to try to answer the last question. I was in a musty, broken down house. The yellow wallpaper was torn down and molded. Thick vegetation was growing over the wooden walls and concrete floors. The only sources of light were the open door, a small window, and this weird polygonal floating robot I have been talking to, which presumably revived me.

"I am a ghost. Well actually, I am your ghost. This is the European Dead Zone. We are not safe here. We must go now." I struggled, toppling over a few times, but I eventually stood up from the concrete floor I was laying in earlier.

I then took a moment to notice myself. I was wearing greyish-brown body armor with a helmet, covering me from head to toe. It felt comfortable. Definitely some sort of metal on the outside. But the weirdest thing is, it felt so weirdly, right. _Why would I wear something like this?_ I thought.

This was all very alien to me. I had only been alive for 5 minutes now and it felt like I was already losing sanity. The world spun around me as I attempted to think clearly. _Why was I chosen to come back? How did I die? Why can't I remember anything?_

"Come on" said the ghost as it lead me through the doorway. I followed it, only to reveal a giant street full of houses, which were also molded and vegetated. "So why exactly is this place dangerous?" I asked nervously. "The Fallen," said the ghost. Fear struck my heart as I started to bare the truth that someone, or something, was out to kill me.

"And what exactly is 'The Fallen'?" The ghost sighed, almost getting annoyed. "The fallen is an alien race that will try to kill you, okay?" Great. An entire race of people out to kill me. "Good to know. Where to?" I asked, getting tired of just standing there.

"Down the road the road is stopped by a forest. We will traverse the forest, and there will be an airport so then we can hopefully find a ship there. But what we will definitely find there are Fallen. I'm not the biggest fan of this plan either, but it's our only chance."

"Is there anyway I can defend myself from these fallen people?" I asked hopefully. "I searched every house in this area looking for people like you, and I don't recall finding a gun. Unfortunately." Crap.

We didn't speak after that. We just stuck with the plan, and walked, and walked, and walked. After about five miles of hiking through the forest, we finally reached the very large airport. "Before we potentially die, what is your name?" The ghost asked, genuinely curious.

That was a good question. I never really thought of it either. I tried so hard to remember, and it was a struggle. But after 30 seconds, I finally remembered it.

"Literus," I finally said. "It's Literus."

"Good name," said the ghost. "Let's find that ship."

 **Author's Note: Well, thank you for taking the time to read my story so far. I am a complete beginner to fanfiction, so any sort of criticism would be great. Please review and have great day.**


	3. Wings

Walking away from the forest, we finally descended into a giant runway. Colossal metal scraps and pieces of wings were surrounding the actual building. I wondered what could cause this chaos. Could it have been the Fallen? Or worse?

I then looked at the ghost, who was staring right back at me. "Come on. We don't have much time." He then floated on towards the middle of the runway. I followed him, having to jog to keep up with him. Everything was so quiet. It wasn't peaceful, it wasn't eerie, just quiet.

I heard a roar in the distance.

The ghost paused, looking around. Looking for them. He only looked around for about 10 seconds, but it felt like 10 hours. Sweat built up in my armor as my stomach churned and churned. The fear of death is quite strong, and I felt it. "The Fallen!" he yelled in panic. I didn't think after that. I just ran. I just ran and ran and ran. I didn't get tired, I didn't slow down, I was just scared. It took me until then to realize, but I was terrified. I was terrified of the Fallen, the lack of weapons, the unknown, even the Ghost in a way scared me.

I leaped over a hunk of debris next to the forest. Gunshots rang out in the distance. The silence was constantly broken by little bits of chaos. My breathing was shattered. Each rep of breath was a millisecond. I was shuddering in fear. _I wish I was still dead._ I thought. I turned to my right to my ghost. Ghost? Where was my Ghost. The fear multiplied inside of me. I was alone. Nothing was with me. This was worse than death.

I looked over the debris, my only source of cover, and found somebody. No, something. A four-armed beast, staring at me with it's four demonic eyes, glowing almost. It had a sniper rifle of some sort pointed right at me. It snarled in anger, and I screamed in fear. No gun, no ghost, and as far as I could tell, no life. I immediately ducked down under the debris after screaming. The fallen's rifle then rang out a bolt of lightning and hit the metal of the debris. I heard it's foot steps after that. Slowly getting louder and louder, the tension, the anxiety, the anger built up, boiling inside of me. The fallen creature then slowly walked around, pointed it's rifle upon my helpless self, and…

I punched it's face to the ground.

I just leaped at it without thinking. My arm swung full circle around me. The momentum, the tension, the fear all went into that creature's face. All of that tension was immediately replaced with invigoration. It felt so good to punch, to let go, to have victory. My triumph was shortly interrupted by a very familiar voice.

"Nice one."

My Ghost was floating towards me from behind. The floating thing seemed very happy with my immediate courage. "Thanks. No problem really," I replied, trying to act cool about it. "You were scared out of your mind you idiot. Running away from me. I nearly got myself killed, but then again, so did you. Good news is, I did indeed find the ship. Bad news, it's surrounded by fallen." "Well, can't I punch them of something? I've done it once. I can do it again." "Don't be stupid Literus." He hit me hard, but at least it was true. I still had to be smart about this. "The ship is this way. Come on." The ghost then levitated away, giving me permission to follow.

We both walked across the runway, but this time we were more stealthy and careful as we trespassed. We were hiding behind debris as we passed by them, and we were much more alert. The ship was surprisingly not far away. It was only about a half a mile infact. This was a pleasant surprise, as this Ghost seemed to like to walk long distances.

"Here" said the ghost hiding behind a steel crate with me. I decided I would look ahead to do a little scouting. There was a group of fallen around this ship. All of them were heavily armed. Some had two arms, and some had four. They all had the same color body armor, which was red and white. They all seemed to be scavenging. Some were keeping guard, while other searched the ship, and the things around it. I then looked at the things around it and noticed, finally, a gun.

This gun brought new hope as soon as I saw it and it's beauty. I was tempted to just run and grab it, but I resisted my temptation and sneaked past. Crate to crate. Debris to Debris. Barrier to barrier. The ghost followed me, knowing what I was doing. I got closer and closer and I got there. The gratifying feeling of just holding this gun was amazing. I could finally competently defend myself.

"An auto rifle" said the ghost. "Good find." I ignored him, as I was already pointing the barrel at one of the Fallen's heads. I was ready. My finger was on the trigger semi pulling it already. I then pulled it completely.

Loud gunshots rang out from the rifle, obliterating the head of one of the fallen. The rest of them all scrambled. About five of them pointed their guns at me and fired at once. I then quickly aimed at other. _CRACK CRACK CRACK. BANG BANG. CRACK CRACK CRACK. BANG BANG._ This went on for quite awhile, and I got very impatient. So I stood up, gripped my gun harder, and I held on to that trigger like I held on to my life.

All I heard, and all they heard, were the sounds of gun shots. One went down. Then another. Then another. I felt invincible. That is, until the big one came.

The other four armed and two armed ones were actually about my size, but his one was about twice as mine. Armed with two swords, this guy proved me wrong on the whole invincible thing. Only having a few of the normal ones left, this guy just jumped out of nowhere. I immediately ran away.

"A fallen captain. Watch out!" the ghost exclaimed as I ran toward him. "That was a stupid move by the way. It may have worked, but you're very very lucky it did so." "Shut up," I said, actually pretty offended by his remark.

I looked over the debris only to see this "captain" and his gang. He then noticed me, and he charged at me with all of his might. I quickly evaded to the side and unloaded an entire magazine of the gun into him. He was injured, but still alive. He seemed to be calling through some sort of radio. I then beat him with the butt of my gun to finish him off before he could say anything else. Running out of ammo, I then hid behind cover as the other Fallen unloaded ammo onto my ghost and I.

"What do we do?" I panted. It may not seem like it, but this was very tiring. Not only that, but I was still kinda scared. "Run."

And I did just that.

It was a good thing I did that too, because a Fallen ship seemed to be coming in, presumably full of reinforcements. I was running as fast as I could, because I was extremely afraid to get hit. And as I was running, there was a sharp vibration on my knee. I obviously got shot, but it didn't hurt like it should have. It wasn't comfortable, but it didn't hurt. It must have been the armor. Good thing I was wearing it.

Ready to leave, I jumped straight into the cockpit of the ship. "Ready to lift off," said the ghost who was controlling the jumpship. "Good job Literus. The angel had finally gained its wings." I was completely surprised that he would say something like that, but I kinda liked that analogy. As I flew through the peaceful skies, I could finally rest. Now that I have gained my wings.

Walking away from the forest, we finally descended into a giant runway. Colossal metal scraps and pieces of wings were surrounding the actual building. I wondered what could cause this chaos. Could it have been the Fallen? Or worse?

I then looked at the ghost, who was staring right back at me. "Come on. We don't have much time." He then floated on towards the middle of the runway. I followed him, having to jog to keep up with him. Everything was so quiet. It wasn't peaceful, it wasn't eerie, just quiet.

I heard a roar in the distance.

The ghost paused, looking around. Looking for them. He only looked around for about 10 seconds, but it felt like 10 hours. Sweat built up in my armor as my stomach churned and churned. The fear of death is quite strong, and I felt it. "The Fallen!" he yelled in panic. I didn't think after that. I just ran. I just ran and ran and ran. I didn't get tired, I didn't slow down, I was just scared. It took me until then to realize, but I was terrified. I was terrified of the Fallen, the lack of weapons, the unknown, even the Ghost in a way scared me.

I leaped over a hunk of debris next to the forest. Gunshots rang out in the distance. The silence was constantly broken by little bits of chaos. My breathing was shattered. Each rep of breath was a millisecond. I was shuddering in fear. _I wish I was still dead._ I thought. I turned to my right to my ghost. Ghost? Where was my Ghost. The fear multiplied inside of me. I was alone. Nothing was with me. This was worse than death.

I looked over the debris, my only source of cover, and found somebody. No, something. A four-armed beast, staring at me with it's four demonic eyes, glowing almost. It had a sniper rifle of some sort pointed right at me. It snarled in anger, and I screamed in fear. No gun, no ghost, and as far as I could tell, no life. I immediately ducked down under the debris after screaming. The fallen's rifle then rang out a bolt of lightning and hit the metal of the debris. I heard it's foot steps after that. Slowly getting louder and louder, the tension, the anxiety, the anger built up, boiling inside of me. The fallen creature then slowly walked around, pointed it's rifle upon my helpless self, and…

I punched it's face to the ground.

I just leaped at it without thinking. My arm swung full circle around me. The momentum, the tension, the fear all went into that creature's face. All of that tension was immediately replaced with invigoration. It felt so good to punch, to let go, to have victory. My triumph was shortly interrupted by a very familiar voice.

"Nice one."

My Ghost was floating towards me from behind. The floating thing seemed very happy with my immediate courage. "Thanks. No problem really," I replied, trying to act cool about it. "You were scared out of your mind you idiot. Running away from me. I nearly got myself killed, but then again, so did you. Good news is, I did indeed find the ship. Bad news, it's surrounded by fallen." "Well, can't I punch them of something? I've done it once. I can do it again." "Don't be stupid Literus." He hit me hard, but at least it was true. I still had to be smart about this. "The ship is this way. Come on." The ghost then levitated away, giving me permission to follow.

We both walked across the runway, but this time we were more stealthy and careful as we trespassed. We were hiding behind debris as we passed by them, and we were much more alert. The ship was surprisingly not far away. It was only about a half a mile infact. This was a pleasant surprise, as this Ghost seemed to like to walk long distances.

"Here" said the ghost hiding behind a steel crate with me. I decided I would look ahead to do a little scouting. There was a group of fallen around this ship. All of them were heavily armed. Some had two arms, and some had four. They all had the same color body armor, which was red and white. They all seemed to be scavenging. Some were keeping guard, while other searched the ship, and the things around it. I then looked at the things around it and noticed, finally, a gun.

This gun brought new hope as soon as I saw it and it's beauty. I was tempted to just run and grab it, but I resisted my temptation and sneaked past. Crate to crate. Debris to Debris. Barrier to barrier. The ghost followed me, knowing what I was doing. I got closer and closer and I got there. The gratifying feeling of just holding this gun was amazing. I could finally competently defend myself.

"An auto rifle" said the ghost. "Good find." I ignored him, as I was already pointing the barrel at one of the Fallen's heads. I was ready. My finger was on the trigger semi pulling it already. I then pulled it completely.

Loud gunshots rang out from the rifle, obliterating the head of one of the fallen. The rest of them all scrambled. About five of them pointed their guns at me and fired at once. I then quickly aimed at other. _CRACK CRACK CRACK. BANG BANG. CRACK CRACK CRACK. BANG BANG._ This went on for quite awhile, and I got very impatient. So I stood up, gripped my gun harder, and I held on to that trigger like I held on to my life.

All I heard, and all they heard, were the sounds of gun shots. One went down. Then another. Then another. I felt invincible. That is, until the big one came.

The other four armed and two armed ones were actually about my size, but his one was about twice as mine. Armed with two swords, this guy proved me wrong on the whole invincible thing. Only having a few of the normal ones left, this guy just jumped out of nowhere. I immediately ran away.

"A fallen captain. Watch out!" the ghost exclaimed as I ran toward him. "That was a stupid move by the way. It may have worked, but you're very very lucky it did so." "Shut up," I said, actually pretty offended by his remark.

I looked over the debris only to see this "captain" and his gang. He then noticed me, and he charged at me with all of his might. I quickly evaded to the side and unloaded an entire magazine of the gun into him. He was injured, but still alive. He seemed to be calling through some sort of radio. I then beat him with the butt of my gun to finish him off before he could say anything else. Running out of ammo, I then hid behind cover as the other Fallen unloaded ammo onto my ghost and I.

"What do we do?" I panted. It may not seem like it, but this was very tiring. Not only that, but I was still kinda scared. "Run."

And I did just that.

It was a good thing I did that too, because a Fallen ship seemed to be coming in, presumably full of reinforcements. I was running as fast as I could, because I was extremely afraid to get hit. And as I was running, there was a sharp vibration on my knee. I obviously got shot, but it didn't hurt like it should have. It wasn't comfortable, but it didn't hurt. It must have been the armor. Good thing I was wearing it.

Ready to leave, I jumped straight into the cockpit of the ship. "Ready to lift off," said the ghost who was controlling the jumpship. "Good job Literus. The angel had finally gained its wings." I was completely surprised that he would say something like that, but I kinda liked that analogy. As I flew through the peaceful skies, I could finally rest. Now that I have gained my wings.


End file.
